CHAPTER 4: OUTPUT

4.1 WHAT IS OUTPUT?

Output is data that has been processed into a useful form called information. That
is, a computer processes input into output. Computers generate several types of
output, depending on the hardware and software being used and the requirements
of the user. You may choose to display or view this output on a monitor, print it
on a printer, or listen to it through speakers or a headset. Four common types of
output are text, graphics, audio, and video.

ß Text consists of characters that are used to create words, sentences, and
paragraphs. A character is a letter, number, punctuation mark, or any other
symbol that requires one byte of computer storage space.

ß Graphics are digital representations of nontext information such as

drawings, charts, and photographs. Graphics also can be animated, giving
them the illusion of motion. Animation is created by displaying a series of
still images in rapid sequence.

Many of today’s software programs support graphics. For example, you

can include a photograph in a word processing document or create a chart
of data in a spreadsheet program.

Some software packages are designed specifically to create and edit

graphics. Paint programs, for instance, allow you to create graphics that
can be used in brochures, newsletters, and Web pages.

Image editing software allows you to alter graphics by including

enhancements such as blended colors, animation, and other special effects.

ß Audio is music, speech, or any other sound. Recall that sound waves,
such
as the human voice or music, are analog. To store such sounds, a computer
converts the sounds from a continuous analog signal into a digital format.
Most output devices require that the computer convert the digital format
back into analog signals.

ß Video consists of images that are played back at speeds that provide
the appearance of full motion. Video often is captured with a video input
device such as a video camera or VCR. Most video signals are analog;
however, some video devices record the video images digitally.

A video capture card converts an analog video signal into a digital signal
that a computer can understand. The digital signal then is stored on the
computer’s hard disk. Some output devices accept the digital signal, while
others require that the computer convert the digital signals back into
analog signals.

4.2 WHAT ARE OUTPUT DEVICES?

An output device is any computer component capable of conveying information

 to a user. Commonly used output devices include display devices, printers,
speakers, headsets, data projectors, facsimile machines, and multifunction
devices. Each of these output devices is discussed in the following pages.

4.3 DISPLAY DEVICES

A display device is an output device that visually conveys text, graphics, and
video information. Information shown on a display device often is called soft
copy, because the information exists electronically and is displayed for a
temporary period of time.

Display devices include CRT monitors, flat-panel displays, and high-definition

televisions.

4.3.1 CRT Monitors

A CRT monitor, or monitor, is a display device that consists of a screen

housed in a plastic or metal case. A color monitor displays text, graphics,
and video information in color. Color monitors are used widely with all
types of computers because most of today’s software is designed to
display inforlnation in color.

Monitors that display only one color are Considered monochrome. A

monochrome monitor displays text, graphics, and video information in one
color (usually white, amber, or green) on a black background.

Because monochrome monitors are less expensive than color monitors,

some organizations use them for applications that do not require color or
detailed graphics, such as order entry.

To enhance the quality of their graphics display, some monochrome

monitors use gray scaling, which involves using many shades of gray from
white to black to form the images.

Like a television set, the core of a CRT monitor is a large glass tube called
a cathode ray tube (CRT). The screen, which is the front of the tube, is
coated with tiny dots of phosphor material that glow when electrically
charged. Inside the CRT, an electron beam moves back and forth across
the back of the screen, causing the dots to glow, which produces an image
on the screen.

Each dot, called a pixel (short for picture element), is a single point in an
electronic image (Figure 4-1). Monitors consist of hundreds, thousands, or
millions of pixels arranged in rows and columns that can be used to create
images. The pixels are so close together that they appear connected.

CRT monitors are used with a variety of computers. The CRT monitors
used with desktop computers are available in a number of sizes, with the
more common being 15, 17, 19, 20, and 21 inches. The size of a monitor is
measured diagonally, from corner to corner.
 Most monitors are referred to by their viewable size, which is the diagonal
measurement of the cathode ray tube inside the monitor and is larger than the
actual viewing area provided by the monitor. A monitor listeij as a 19-
inch monitor, for example, may have a viewable size of only 17.9 inches.
Manufacturers are required to list a monitor’s viewable size in any
advertisement.

Determining what size monitor to use depends on your intended use. A

large monitor allows you to view more information on the screen at once,
but usually is more expensive. If you work on the Web or use multiple
applications at one time, however, you may want to invest in at least a 19-
inch monitor. If you use your computer for intense graphing applications
such as desktop publishing and engineering, you may want an even larger
monitor.
Figure 4-1 a pixel is a single dot or color, or point, in an electronic image.

4.3.2 Flat-Panel Displays

A flat-panel display is a lightweight, thin screen that consumes less power

than a CR1 monitor. Two common types of flat-panel displays are LCD
and gas plasma.

ß LCD DISPLAYS

LCD displays commonly are used in laptop computers, handheld

computers, digital watches,’ and calculators because they are
thinner and more lightweight than CRT monitors. While most LCD
displays are color, even those on newer models of handheld
computers, some devices use monochrome LCD displays to save
battery power

Unlike a CRT monitor, an LCD display does not use a cathode ray
tube (CR1’) to create images on the screen; it instead uses a liquid
crystal display (LCD). A liquid crystal display (LCD) has special
molecules (called liquid crystals) deposited between two sheets of
material. When an electric current passes through them, the

molecules twist, causing some light waves to be blocked and

 allowing others to pass through, which then creates the desired
images on the screen.

Like CRT monitors, the LCD displays used with laptop computers
are available in a variety of sizes, with the more common being
14.1, 15.0, and 15.4 inches. LCD displays produce color using
either passive matrix or active matrix technology.

An active-matrix display uses a separate transistor for each color

pixel and thus can display high-quality color that is viewable from
all angles. Active-matrix displays sometimes are called TFT
displays, named after the thin-film transistor (TFT) technology
they use. Because they use many transistors, active-matrix
displays. require a lot of power.

A passive-matrix display uses fewer transistors and requires less

power, but its color display often is not as bright as an active-
matrix display. Images on a passivematrix display can be viewed
best when you work directly in front of the display. Passive-matrix
displays are less expensive than active-matrix displays.

While LCD displays are used most often with laptops, stand-alone
LCD monitors also can be used with desktop computers. Like CRT
monitors, LCD monitors are available in a variety of sizes, with the
more common being 15, 18, and 20 inches. (The term monitor
typically is used for desktop display devices, while the term
display is used for display devices on portable computers.) LCD
monitors require less power and take up less desk space than
traditional CRT monitors, making them ideal for users with space
limitations. Some LCD monitors even can be mounted on the wall
for increased space savings. Stand-alone LCD monitors, however,
are more expensive than CRT monitors.

ß Gas Plasma Monitors

For even larger displays, some large business or power users prefer
gas plasma monitors, which can measure more than 42 inches and
hang directly on a wall Gas plasma monitors use gas plasma
technology, which substitutes a layer of gas for the liquid crystal
material in an LCD monitor. When voltage is applied, the gas
glows and produces the pixels that form an image. Gas plasma
monitors offer larger screen sizes and higher display quality than
LCD monitors but are much more expensive.

4.3.3 Monitor Quality

The quality of a monitor’s display depends largely on its resolution, dot

pitch, and refresh rate. The resolution, or sharpness and clarity, of a
monitor is related directly to the number of pixels it can display.
Resolution is expressed as two separate numbers: the number of columns

of pixels and the number of rows of pixels a monitor can display.

A screen with a 640 x 480 (pronounce 640 by 480) resolution, for

example, can display 640 columns and 480 rows of pixels (or a total of
 307,200 pixels). Most modem monitors can display 800 x 600 and 1024 x
768 pixels; some high-end can display 1280 x 1024, 1600 x 1200, or eve
1920 x 1440 pixels.

A monitor with a higher resolution displays a greater number of pixels,

which provides a smoother image. A higher resolution, however, also
causes images to display smaller on the. For this reason, you would not
use a high resolution on a small monitor, such as a 14-inch monitor,
because the small characters would be difficult to read. In Windows, you
can change the resolution and other monitor characteristics using the
Display Properties dialog box.

The ideal monitor resolution to use is a matter of preference. A higher

resolution is desirable for graphics applications; a lower resolution usually
is satisfactory for applications such as word processing.

Another factor that determines monitor quality is dot pitch, which is a

measure of image clarity. The dot pitch is the vertical distance between
each pixel on a monitor. The smaller the distance between the pixels, the
sharper the displayed image. Text created with a smaller dot pitch is easier
to read. To minimize eye fatigue, you should use a monitor with a dot
pitch of .28 millimeters or smaller.

Recall that images on a CRT monitor are drawn on the screen as an

electron beam moves back and forth across the back of the screen and
causes pixels on the screen to glow. These pixels, however, glow for only
a fraction of a second before beginning to fade. The monitor thus must
redraw the picture many times per second so the image does not fade.

The speed that the monitor redraws images on the screen is called the
refresh rate. Ideally, a monitor’s refresh rate should be fast enough to
maintain a constant, flicker-free image. A slower refresh rate causes the
image to fade and then flicker as it is redrawn, which can cause headaches for
users. Refresh rate is measured according to hertz, which is the number
of times per second the screen is redrawn. Although most people can
tolerate a refresh rate of 60 hertz, a high-quality monitor will provide a
refresh rate of at least 75 hertz.

Some older monitors refresh images using a technique called interlacing.

With interlacing, the electron beam draws only half the horizontal lines
with each pass (for example, all odd-numbered lines on one pass and all
even-numbered lines on the next pass). Because it happens so quickly,
your brain perceives the two images as a single image. Interlacing
originally was developed for monitors with slow refresh rates. Most of
today’s monitors are noninterlaced, and they provide a much better,
flicker-free image than interlaced monitors.

4.3.4 Video Cards

To display color, a color monitor works in combination with a video card,

which is included with today’s personal computers. A video card, also
called a graphics card or video adapter, converts digital output into an
analog video signal that is sent through a cable to the monitor. The
 monitor separates the video signal into red, green, and blue signals.
Electron guns then fire the three color signals to the front of the monitor.
These three dots - one red, one green, and one blue are combined to make
up each single pixel.

The number of colors that a video card can display is determined by the
number of bits it uses to store information about each pixel. For example,
an 8-bit video card (also called 8-bit color) uses 8 bits to store information
about each pixel and thus can display 256 different colors, a 24-bit video
card uses 24 bits to store information about each pixel and can display
16.7 million colors. In Windows, you can change the number of displayed
colors in the Display Properties dialog box .

Over the years, several video standards have been developed to define the
resolution, number of colors, and other properties for various types of
monitors. Today, just about every monitor supports the super video
graphics array (SVGA) standard, which also supports resolutions and
colors in the VGA standard. The table in Figure 4-2 outlines the suggested
resolution and number of displayed colors in the MDA, VGA, XGA, and
SVGA standards.

For a monitor to display images using the resolution and number of colors
defined by a video standard, the monitor must support the video standard and
the video card must be capable of communicating appropriate signals
to the monitor. That is, the video card and the monitor must support the
video standard to generate the desired resolution and number of colors.

Most video cards are equipped with memory, which is used to store
information about each pixel. While some use dynamic RAM (DRAM),
higher-quality video cards use video RAM or VRAM (pronounced VEE-
ram) to improve the quality of graphics. As with other types of memory,
VRAM is measured in megabytes.

Figure 4-2 The various video standards

Your video card must have enough memory to generate the resolution and
number of colors you want to display. For example, if you wanted an 800
x 600 resolution with 16-bit color (65,536 colors), then your video card
should have at least 1 MB of VRAM.

4.4 PRINTERS

A printer is an output device that produces text and graphics on a physical

medium such as paper or transparency film. Printed information is called hard
copy because the information exists physically and is a more permanent form of
output than that presented on a display device (soft copy).

Hard copy, also called a printout, can be printed in portrait or landscape

orientation. A page with portrait orientation is taller than it is wide, with
information printed across the shorter width of the paper; a page with landscape
orientation is wider than it is tall, with information printed across the widest part
of the paper. Letters, reports, and books typically are printed in portrait
orientation; spreadsheets, slide shows, and graphics often are printed in landscape
orientation.

Printing requirements vary greatly among users. Home computer users might
print only a hundred pages or fewer a week. Small business computer users might
print several hundred pages a day. Users of mainframe computers, such as large
utility companies that send printed statements to hundreds of thousands of
customers each month, require printers that are capable of printing thousands of
pages per hour. These different needs have resulted in the development of printers
with varying speeds, capabilities, and printing methods.

Generally, printers can be grouped into two categories: impact and nonimpact.
Printers in each of these categories are discussed in the following sections.

4.4.1 Impact Printers

An impact printer forms characters and graphics on a piece of paper by

striking a mechanism against an ink ribbon that physically contacts the
paper. Because of the striking activity, impact printers generally are noisy.

Many impact printers do not provide letter quality print. Letter quality
(LQ) output is a quality of print acceptable for business letters. Many
impact printers produce near letter quality (NLQ) print, which is slightly
less clear than letter quality. NLQ impact printers are used for jobs that
require only near letter quality, such as printing mailing labels, envelopes,
or invoices.

Impact printers also are ideal for printing multipart forms because they
easily can print through many layers of paper. Finally, impact printers are
used in many factories and at retail counters because they can withstand
dusty environments, vibrations, and extreme temperatures.

Two commonly used types of impact printers are dot-matrix printers and
line printers. Each of these printers is discussed in the following sections.

ß DOT-MATRIX PRINTERS

A dot-matrix printer is an impact printer that produces printed

images when tiny wire pins on a print head mechanism strike an
inked ribbon (Figure 4-3). When the ribbon presses against the
paper, it creates dots that form characters and graphics.

Most dot-matrix printers use continuous-form paper, in which each

sheet of paper is connected together. The pages generally have
holes punched along two opposite sides so the paper can be fed
through the printer. Perforations along the inside of the punched
holes and at each fold allow the sheets to be separated into
 standard-sized sheets of paper, such as 81/2 x 11 inches. One
advantage of continuous-form paper is that it does not have to be
changed very often because thousands of pages are connected
together. Many dot-matrix printers also can be adjusted to print
pages in either portrait or landscape orientation.

The print head mechanism on a dot-matrix printer can contain nine

to twenty-four pins, depending on the manufacturer and the printer
model. A higher number of pins means more dots are printed,
which results in higher print quality.

The speed of a dot-matrix printer is measured by the number of

characters per second (cps) it can print. The speed of dot-matrix
printers ranges from 50 to 700 characters per second (cps),
depending on the desired print quality.

Figure 4-3 A dot-matrix printer produces printed images when tiny pins strike
an inked ribbon.

ß Line Printer

A line printer is a high-speed impact printer that prints an entire

line at a time. The speed of a line printer is measured by the
number of lines per minute (1pm) it can print. Capable of printing
up to 3,000 lines per minute (1pm), these printers often are used
with mainframes, minicomputers, or with a network in applications
such as manufacturing, distribution, or shipping. Line printers
typically use 11 x 17-inch continuous-form paper, such as the
greenbar paper used to print reports from mainframe computers.

4-9
Chapter 4: Output

Two popular types of line printers used for high-volume output are
band and shuttle-matrix. A band printer prints fully-formed
characters when hammers strike a horizontal, rotating band that
contains shapes of numbers, letters of the alphabet, and other
characters. A shuttle-matrix printer works more like a dot-matrix
printer; the difference is the shuttle-matrix printer moves a series
of print hammers back and forth horizontally at incredibly high
speeds. Unlike a band printer, a shuttle-matrix printer can print
characters in various fonts and font sizes
4.4.2 Nonimpact Printers

A nonimpact printer forms characters and graphics on a piece of paper

without actually striking the paper. Some spray ink, while others use heat
and pressure to create images. Because these printers do not strike the
paper, they are much quieter than the previously discussed impact printers.

Three commonly used types of nonimpact printers are ink-jet printers,

laser printers, and thermal printers. Each of these printers is discussed in
the following sections.

ß INKJET PRINTERS

An ink-jet printer is a type of nonimpact printer that forms

characters and graphics by spraying tiny drops of liquid ink onto a
piece of paper. Ink-jet printers usually use individual sheets of
paper stored in a removable or stationary tray. These printers can
produce letter-quality text and graphics in both black-and-white
and color on various materials such as envelopes, labels,
transparencies, and iron-on t-shirt transfers, as well as a variety of
paper types. Some ink-jet printers can print photo-quality images
on any type of paper, while other ink-jet printers require a heavier
weight premium paper for better-looking color documents. Many
ink-jet printers are sold with software for creating greeting cards,
banners, business cards, letterheads, and transparencies.

Because of their reasonable cost and letter-quality print, ink-jet

printers have become the most popular type of color printer for use
in the home. You can purchase an ink-jet printer of reasonable
quality for a few hundred dollars.

One factor that determines the quality c an ink-jet printer is its

resolution, or sharpness and clarity. Printer resolution is measured by
the number of dots per inch (dpi) a printer can output. The
higher the dpi, the better the print quality. With an ink-jet printer, a
dot is a drop of ink. A higher dpi means the drops of ink are
smaller, which provides a higher quality image Most ink-jet
printers have a dpi that ranges from 300 to 1,440 dpi. Typically,
printers with a higher dpi are more expensive.

The speed of an ink-jet printer is measured by the number of pages

per minute (ppm) it can print. Most ink-jet printers print from one
to twelve pages per minute (ppm). Graphics and colors print at the
slower rate.

The print head mechanism of an ink-jet printer contains ink-filled

print cartridges, each with fifty to several hundred small ink holes,
or nozzles. The steps in Figure 4-4 illustrate how a drop of ink
appears on a page. Each nozzle in the print cartridge is similar to
an individual pin on a dot-matrix printer. Just as any combination
of dot-matrix pins can be activated, ink can be propelled by heat or
pressure through any combination of the nozzles to form a
character or image on the paper.
 When the print cartridge runs out of ink, you simply replace the
cartridge. Most ink-jet printers have at least two print cartridges:
one containing black ink and the other(s) containing colors.

Figure 4-4 How an ink-jet printer works

ß LASER PRINTERS

A laser printer is a high-speed, high-quality nonimpact printer.

Laser printers for personal computers usually use individual sheets
of paper stored in a removable tray that slides into the printer case.
Some laser printers have trays that can accommodate different
sizes of paper, while others require separate trays for letter- and
legal-sized paper. Most laser printers have a manual feed slot
where you can insert individual sheets and envelopes. You also can
print transparencies on a laser printer.

Laser printers can print text and graphics in very high quality
resolutions, ranging from 600 dpi to 1,200 dpi. While laser printers
typically cost more than ink-jet printers, they also are much faster,
printing text at speeds of four to thirty pages per minute.

Depending on the quality and speed of the printer, the cost of a

black-and-white laser printer ranges from a few hundred to several
thousand dollars. Although color laser printers are available, they
are relatively expensive, with prices exceeding several thousand
dollars. The higher the resolution and speed, the more expensive
the printer. High-end fast laser printers are used with mainframe
computers.

When printing a document, laser printers process and store the entire
page before they actually print it. For this reason, laser printers
sometimes are called page printers. Storing a page before printing
requires laser printers to have a certain amount of
memory.

Depending on the amount of graphics you intend to print, a laser

printer can have up to 200 MB of memory. To print a full-page
600-dpi picture, for instance, you might need 8 MB of memory on
the printer. If your Printer does not have enough memory to print
the picture, it either will print as much of the picture as its memory
will allow or it will display an error message and not print any of
the picture.

Laser printers use software that enables them to interpret a page

description language (PDL). A PDL tells the printer how to layout
the contents of a printed page. When you purchase a laser printer,
it comes with at least one of two common page description languages:
PCL or PostScript. Developed by Hewlett-Packard, a leading printer
manufacturer, PCL (Printer Control Language) is a standard printer
language designed to support the fonts and layout used in standard
office documents. PostScript commonly is used in fields such as
desktop publishing and graphic art because it is designed for complex
documents with intense graphics and colors.

Operating in a manner similar to a copy machine, a laser printer

creates images using a laser beam and powdered ink, called toner,
which is packaged in a cartridge. The laser beam produces an
image on a special drum inside the printer. The light of the
laser alters the electrical charge on the drum wherever it hits.
When this occurs, the toner sticks to the drum and then is
transferred to the paper through a combination of pressure and
heat (Figure 4-5).
When the toner runs out, you can replace the toner cartridge.
Figure 4-5 how a laser printer works
ß THERMAL PRINTERS

A thermal printer generates images by pushing electrically

heated pins against heat-sensitive paper. Standard thermal
printers are inexpensive, but the print quality is low and the
images tend to
fade over time. Thermal printers are, however, ideal for
use in small devices such as adding machines.

Two special types of thermal printers have a much higher

print quality. A thermal wax-transfer printer, also called a
thermal
transfer printer, generates rich, non-smearing images by using heat
to melt color-wax onto heat-sensitive paper. Thermal wax-transfer
printers are more expensive than ink-jet printers, but less expensive
than many color laser printers. A dye-sublimation printer,
also called a thermal dye transfer printer, uses heat to transfer
colored

dye to specially coated paper. While among the more expensive

types of printers, dye-sublimation printers can create images that
are of photographic quality. Some manufacturers offer a printer for
a few thousand dollars that have both capabilities, that is, thermal
wax-transfer and dye sublimation.

ß Portable Printers

A portable printer is a small, lightweight printer that allows a

 mobile user to print from a laptop or handheld computer while
travelling. Barely wider than the paper on which they print,
portable printers easily can fit in a briefcase alongside a laptop
computer.

Some portable printers use ink-jet technology, while others are

thermal or thermal wax-transfer. Portable ink-jet printers provide
better output quality than portable thermal printers, but usually are
larger. Many of these printers connect to a parallel port; others
have a built-in infrared port through which they communicate with
the computer.

ß Plotters and Large-Format Printers

Plotters and large-format printers are sophisticated printers used to

produce high-quality drawings such as blueprints, maps, circuit
diagrams, and signs. Because blueprints, maps, and other such
drawings can be quite large, these printers typically can handle
paper with widths up to 60 inches. Some plotters and large-format
printers use individual sheets of paper, while others take large
rolls. These printers are used in specialized fields such as
engineering, drafting, and graphic art and usually are very costly.

Two basic types of plotters are pen plotters and electrostatic

plotters. A pen plotter uses one or more color pen light beams, or a
scribing device to draw on paper or transparencies. Pen plotters
differ from other printers in that they produce continuous lines,
whereas most printers generate lines by printing a closely spaced
series of dots.

An electrostatic plotter uses a row of charged wires (called styli) to

draw an electrostatic pattern on specially coated paper and then
fuses toner to the pattern. The printed image is composed of a
series of very small dots, which provide high-quality output.

Operating like an ink-jet printer, but on a much larger scale, a

large-format printer creates photo-realistic quality color prints.
Used by graphic artists, these high performance printers are used
for signs, posters, and other displays.

ß Special-Purpose Printers

In addition to the printers just discussed, other printers have been

developed for special purposes. A photo printer is a color printer
designed to produce photo lab quality pictures directly from a
digital camera. A label printer is a small printer that prints on an
adhesive-type material that can be placed on a variety of items
such as envelopes, disks, audiocassettes, photographs, and toys.
Many label printers are used to print bar codes.

4,5 AUDIO OUTPUT

Audio is music, speech, or any other sound. Audio output devices are the
components of a computer that produce music, speech, or other sounds, such as
beeps. Two commonly used audio output devices are speakers and headsets.
 Most personal computers have a small internal speaker that usually outputs only
low-quality sound. For this reason, many personal computer users add higher-
quality stereo speakers to their computers or purchase PCs with larger speakers
built into the sides of the monitor.

To boost the low bass sounds, you can add a woofer (also called a subwoofer).
The stereo speakers and woofer are connected to ports on the sound card. Most
speakers have tone and volume controls so you can adjust these settings.

When using speakers, anyone within listening distance can hear the output. If you
are in a computer laboratory or some other crowded environment, speakers might
not be practical; instead, you can plug a headset into a port on the sound card.
With the headset, only you can hear the sound from the computer.

4.6 OTHER OUTPUT DEWCES

Although monitors, printers, and speakers are the more widely used output
devices, many other output devices are available for particular uses and
applications. These include data projectors, facsimiles, and multifunction devices.
Each of these devices is discussed in the following sections.

4.6.1 Data Projectors

A data projector takes the image that displays on a computer screen and
projects it onto a screen so that an audience of people can see the image
clearly. Data projectors can be large devices attached to a ceiling or wall
in an auditorium, or they can be small portable devices. Two types of
smaller, lower-cost units are LCD projectors and DLP projectors.

ß LCD projector

An LCD projector, which uses liquid crystal display technology,

attaches directly to a computer and uses its own light source to
display the information shown on the computer screen. Because
LCD projectors tend to produce lower-quality images, some users
prefer to use a DLP projector for sharper, brighter images.
A digital light processing (DLP) projector uses tiny mirrors to
reflect light, producing crisp, bright, colorful images that remain in
focus and can be seen clearly even in a well-lit room.

ß Facsimile (Fax) Machine

A facsimile (fax) machine is a device that transmits and receives

documents over telephone lines. The documents can contain text,
drawings, or photographs, or can be handwritten. When sent or
received via a fax machine, these documents are known as faxes. A
stand-alone fax machine scans the original document, converts the
image into digitized data, and transmits the digitized image. A fax
machine at the receiving end reads the incoming data, converts the
digitized data into an image, and prints or stores a copy of the
original image.

Fax capability also can be added to your computer using a fax

modem. A fax modem is a communications device that allows you
 to send (and sometimes receive) electronic documents as faxes. A
fax modem transmits computer-prepared documents, such as a
word processing letter, or documents that have been digitized with
a scanner or digital camera. A fax modem is like a regular modem
except that it is designed to transmit documents to a fax machine or
to another fax modem.

When a computer (instead of a fax machine) receives a fax, you can

view the document on the screen or print it using special fax
software. The quality of the viewed or printed fax is less than that
of a word processing document because the fax actually is a large
image. If you have optical character recognition (OCR) software,
you also can edit the document.

A fax modem can be an external peripheral that plugs into a port

on the back of the system unit or an internal card that is inserted
into an expansion slot on the motherboard. In addition, most fax
modems function as regular modems.

ß Multifunction Devices

A multifunction device (MFD) is a single piece of equipment that

looks like a copy machine but provides the functionality of a
printer scanner, copy machine, and perhaps a fax machine.
Sometimes called a multifunction peripheral, the features of
multifunction devices vary widely. For example, some use color
ink-jet printer technology, while others include a black-and-white
laser printer.

Small offices and home offices use multifunction devices because

they take up less space than having a separate printer, scanner, copy
machine, and fax machine. Another advantage of an MFD is
that it is significantly less expensive than if you purchased each
device separately. The primary disadvantage of an MFD is that if
the machine breaks down you lose all four functions. Given the
advantages, however, increasingly more users are bringing
multifunction devices into their offices and homes.

4.7 TERMINALS

A terminal is a device that performs both input and output because it consists of a
monitor (output), a keyboard (input), and a video card. Terminals fall into three
basic categories: dumb terminals, intelligent terminals, and special-purpose
terminals.

A dumb terminal has no processing power, and thus, cannot function as an

independent device. A dumb terminal is used to enter and transmit data to, or
receive and display information from, a computer to which it is connected. Dumb
terminals are connected to a host computer that performs the processing and then
sends the output back to the dumb terminal. The host computer usually is a
minicomputer, mainframe computer, or supercomputer.

In addition to a monitor and keyboard, an intelligent terminal also has memory

and a processor that has the capability of performing some functions independent
of the host computer. Intelligent terminals sometimes are called programmable
terminals because they can be programmed by the software developer to perform
 basic tasks. In recent years, personal computers

Other special-purpose terminals perform specific tasks and contain features

uniquely designed for use in a particular industry. Two of these special-purpose
terminals are point-of-sale terminals and automatic teller machines.

A point-of-sale (POS) terminal is used to record purchases at the point where the
consumer purchases the product or service. The POS terminal used in a grocery
store, for example, is a combination of an electronic cash register and bar code
reader. When the bar code on the food product is scanned, the price of the item
displays on the monitor, the name of the item and its price print on a receipt, and
the item being sold is recorded so the inventory can be updated.

As indicated by this example, POS terminals serve as input to other computers to

maintain sales records, update inventory, verify credit, and perform other
activities associated with the sales transactions that are critical to running the
business.

An automatic teller machine (ATM) is a self-service banking machine attached to

a host computer through a telephone network. You insert a plastic bankcard with a
magnetic strip into the ATM and enter your password, called a personal
identification number (PIN), to access your bank account.

Some ATMs have touch screens, while others have special keyboards for input.
Using an ATM, you can withdraw cash, deposit money, transfer funds, or inquire
about an account balance.

4.8 OUTPUT DEWCES FOR PHYSICALLY CHALLENGED USERS

The growing presence of computers in everyone’s lives has generated an

awareness of the need to address computing requirements for those with physical
limitations. For users with mobility, hearing, or vision disabilities, many different
types of output devices are available. Hearing-impaired users, for example, can
instruct programs to display words instead of sounds. With Windows, such users
also can set options in the Accessibility Properties dialog box to instruct Windows
to display visual signals in situations where normally it would make a sound

Visually impaired users can change Windows settings such as increasing the size
or changing the color of the text to make the words easier to read. Instead of using
a monitor, blind users can utilize speech output, where the computer reads the
information that displays on the screen. Another alternative is a Braille printer,
which outputs information in Braille onto paper.